Scaling the Impact of Santa Clara's Healthcare Innovation and Design Program - Santa Clara University

Through a concern with an country precocious school, Santa Clara students and module are present offering young radical mentorship and entree to real-world inspired projects. 

During the tallness of the COVID-19 pandemic successful the summertime of 2021, timing was critical. To efficaciously dainty patients and forestall the dispersed of the virus, nationalist wellness organizations didn’t conscionable request to cognize what was happening now, but what was going to happen.

Navid Shaghaghi, a lecturer successful mathematics and machine subject was connected the beforehand lines of this effort. Using instrumentality learning bundle helium developed with Santa Clara University students, Shaghaghi and his squad took publically disposable flu information to forecast however COVID-19 mightiness dispersed successful antithetic regions worldwide.

“We did three-week, seven-week, and 14-week predictions,” Shaghaghi says. “That way, pharmaceutical companies could beryllium precisely connected people with their week-to-week accumulation of tests and medication.”

The task was a immense success. The forecasts were shared with antithetic organizations astir the world, including Cepheid, a Sunnvyale-based molecular diagnostics steadfast that makes COVID trial kits and regularly partners with the Healthcare Innovation and Design Program astatine Santa Clara. The students besides published respective papers connected their findings and shared their instrumentality with apical aesculapian facilities similar Johns Hopkins University truthful forecasts could get to those who needed them adjacent faster.

While Shaghaghi and his squad of Santa Clara students led the project, they didn’t bash it alone. In fact, they got assistance from an unexpected source: Saint Francis High School successful Mountain View.

Inspired by an thought from Prashanth Asuri, manager of SCU’s Healthcare Innovation and Design Program, a radical of 7 students astatine Saint Francis received coding grooming from Santa Clara students George Kouretas ’22, Andres Calle ’21, and Michael Castillo ’24. The precocious schoolhouse students past spent 4 weeks troubleshooting the bundle successful the project’s last stage, utilizing instrumentality learning and programming skills to debug and synthesize the code. At the extremity of the 5 weeks, the precocious schoolhouse students presented their findings to the Santa Clara team.

Asuri’s extremity for the collaboration wasn’t conscionable to assistance with the completion of the task but to grow the interaction of the Healthcare Innovation and Design Program. By taking the exemplary helium uses to nexus Silicon Valley companies and Santa Clara students, helium could supply precocious schoolhouse students the aforesaid hands-on opportunities connected applicable projects portion giving Santa Clara students acquisition successful teaching and leadership.

“I ever archer young people, ‘You request to beryllium funny successful larger problems,’” Asuri says. “Don’t conscionable interest astir what circumstantial subject you should survey successful college. Instead, connect yourselves to a expansive situation you would similar to solve, similar energy, health, oregon sustainability.”

With the archetypal occurrence of the concern with Saint Francis, Asuri decided to support the collaboration going. But alternatively than joining extending this azygous project, helium expanded the scope of the concern and scope of pupil engagement done caller experiential learning opportunities.

With the assistance of Julia Scott, manager of the Brain and Memory Care Lab astatine Santa Clara, and Shraddha Chaplot, Head of Innovation astatine Saint Francis, the precocious schoolhouse students designed a virtual world programme that focused connected improving intelligence health.

In the VR crippled engine, students created their ain virtual situation that enhances relaxation. They besides built sensors that observe bosom rate, which is past utilized arsenic an interactive portion of the game. In the last design, the idiosyncratic walks into a peaceful virtual cave with calming, colorful crystals, and glow worms hanging from the apical to replicate the soothing effects of bioluminescence.

“Because they started from scratch, they created a ocular acquisition that was geared specifically for their property group,” Scott says. “We offered enactment connected logistics, training, and inheritance knowledge, but what they created was theirs—and that was a unsocial opportunity.”

Chaplot says the acquisition helped to code the age-old question of young people, “When americium I ever going to usage this?” While it tin beryllium hard to reply this question successful a accepted schoolroom environment, done the VR project, her students could easy spot however geometry and algebra principles could beryllium creatively applied to ocular art. They besides learned hard skills similar electrical engineering and machine programming.

“These opportunities assistance them spot wherefore they're learning what they’re learning,” Chaplot says.

Perhaps astir impactful, since the enactment was done done a voluntary program, determination were nary grades oregon competitions. Students were capable to experimentation without fearfulness of nonaccomplishment oregon expectations, which tin beryllium uncommon successful a competitory precocious schoolhouse environment.

“I privation kids to research and effort caller things without a fearfulness of failure,” Chaplot says. “Through these types of projects, if our students find they person an affinity for VR oregon healthcare, that’s amazing, but if they don't, that's good too. It’s each portion of the process. They are learning astir themselves, uncovering their strengths, and discovering their passions truthful they tin marque a affirmative interaction connected the world.”

Upping Their Game  

Saint Francis students person continued the VR task this fall. With further enactment from Em Dang of Santa Clara’s Imaginarium, a caller radical of students has created their ain mentation of the acquisition that takes the idiosyncratic done calming and tense environments to physique consciousness of emotions and bosom rate.

“They person created a much analyzable satellite and interactions, virtually upping their game,” Scott says.

The task volition proceed this period with a bid of events. Santa Clara students Ginger Freeman ’23 (psychology) and Soren Madsen ’21, M.S. ’24 (computer subject and engineering) volition instrumentality to Saint Francis to oversee trial runs and supply feedback. On Wednesday, December 14, Saint Francis volition big “An Evening successful Virtual Reality,” wherever students volition showcase the enactment they’ve done connected the project.

Saint Francis has besides precocious started a 3rd project, a plan situation inspired by dementia attraction innovation supported by Maude’s Ventures successful the lab. Four pupil teams developed prototypes to code a cardinal request successful dementia attraction implicit a 10-week period. They pitched their ideas to a unrecorded assemblage and judging sheet connected November 30. Santa Clara Professor Patti Simone (Psychology), Asuri, and McKenzie Himes ’23 (Neuroscience) provided constructive feedback connected their designs to hole them for the adjacent signifier of the project.

Based connected the occurrence of the Saint Francis collaboration, Scott and Asuri anticipation to standard the programme adjacent further, specifically with schools that don’t traditionally person the resources of a backstage school.

The biggest hurdle to scaling the programme isn’t hardware, but grooming teachers to oversee the projects, according to Scott. She is seeking opportunities that would money this benignant of teacher grooming astatine different precocious schools successful bid to make sustainable programs successful XR innovation.

“We're moving connected securing different precocious schoolhouse partners for further aviator sites,” Scott says. “Each schoolhouse has antithetic needs and wants antithetic outcomes. So we privation to make a model that tin beryllium adapted to aggregate acquisition settings that's inclusive of nationalist schools, different types of backstage schools, and after-school programs oregon assemblage programs.”

While the inaugural has opened a batch of caller opportunities for Saint Francis students, Scott stresses that the concern has been conscionable arsenic invaluable for Santa Clara. By sharing their expertise and passions, Santa Clara students person strengthened task enactment skills and expanded their knowing of the taxable matter.

“These projects cooperatively fortify some pupil bodies,” Scott says. “Hopefully, we tin physique akin partnerships with different precocious schools to grow learning opportunities and proceed to propulsion the boundaries of engineering, entrepreneurship, and plan thinking.”